pickaxe

/ˈpɪkˌæks/

//ˈpɪkˌæks// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"pickaxe" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pickaxe” is uncommon English (frequency #63,139 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#63,139
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A heavy iron tool with a wooden handle; one end of the head is pointed, the other has a chisel edge.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pickaxe · pickaxe · English

pickaxe · rank #63,139 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #63,139
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH phlox

Nearest frequency peer: phlox (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “pickaxe”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “pickaxe” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for pickaxe
PropertyValue
Headwordpickaxe
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɪkˌæks/
Letters7
Frequency rank#63,139
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “pickaxe” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).pickaxefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “phlox” (#63,138), “picnicking” (#63,140), “phantasy” (#63,137). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pickaxe” is #63,139. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pickaxe is uncommon English at frequency #63,139 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɪkˌæks/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A heavy iron tool with a wooden handle; one end of the head is pointed, the other has a chisel edge.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for pickaxe in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English pykeaxe, pecaxe, pyke exe (“pickaxe”), an alteration (due to folk etymology association with pick and axe) of Middle English pikeyse, pikeys, pykois, from Anglo-Norman *pikeis, Old French picois, pecois, from Latin picōsa (“pic… The correct English form is pickaxe, spelled P-I-C-K-A-X-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A heavy iron tool with a wooden handle; one end of the head is pointed, the other has a chisel edge.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how pickaxe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He was mining stone using a pickaxe.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English pykeaxe, pecaxe, pyke exe (“pickaxe”), an alteration (due to folk etymology association with pick and axe) of Middle English pikeyse, pikeys, pykois, from Anglo-Norman *pikeis, Old French picois, pecois, from Latin picōsa (“pickaxe”), from picca, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *pīk (“sharp point, pike”). Doublet of pique and pike.

This word in other languages

pico(Español)pioche(Français)Spitzhacke(Deutsch)picareta(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pickaxe"?
"pickaxe" is spelled P-I-C-K-A-X-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɪkˌæks/.
What does "pickaxe" mean?
As a noun, "pickaxe" means: A heavy iron tool with a wooden handle; one end of the head is pointed, the other has a chisel edge.
How do you pronounce "pickaxe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pickaxe" is /ˈpɪkˌæks/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "pickaxe"?
Inherited from Middle English pykeaxe, pecaxe, pyke exe (“pickaxe”), an alteration (due to folk etymology association with pick and axe) of Middle English pikeyse, pikeys, pykois, from Anglo-Norman *pikeis, Old French picois, pecois, from Latin pi... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pickaxe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Piggott#63,142playpen#63,145paywall#63,132pranked#63,153

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list